Matilda, Countess of Tuscany

Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, "the Great Countess "(1046-1114), succeeded the duke her father. She was the aunt by marriage of Godfrey of Bouillon, and was renowned for her determined championship of Gregory VII. and the Papal cause during the Great, Schism, in spite of the formidable powers that took part with the anti-Popes. It was at her castle of Canossa that the Emperor Henry IV. had to humiliate himself to the Pope. In 1102 she gave all her possessions to the Church, thus laying the foundation of the Papal States. She was twice married, and was buried in the Vatican.